It's Hard Being A Superhero
by satansville
Summary: Ciel Phantomhive is out and about one day when he develops his power; he soon learns he isn't alone. [Modern Superhero AU. Rated T for safety.]


Ciel didn't know why _it_ started. All he knew was that, when it did, he found himself unable to function.

It had started when he was walking to the store to pick up groceries. His mind suddenly felt fuzzy, overwhelmed, flooded with a barrage of thoughts he couldn't control in the slightest. He tried pushing them away, but they wouldn't stop. It was like he was hearing a hundred different voices in his head, all of which refused to _shut the hell up._

After a couple of days of this, he could've sworn his mental abilities had waned. Schoolwork that had come to him so easily before was now a mystery, he couldn't sleep, and when he did, his dreams were what he was pretty sure were other peoples' dreams all stitched together, about people he never knew, places he'd never been, things he'd never done. These usually woke him up after a hour or so, the overload of information making it impossible to sleep.

By day four of this, he felt like a zombie. The insomnia and the unstoppable voices and thoughts made it hard to think for himself, and as time passed, he found his grades dropping, his social interactions diminishing. He quit bothering to return calls because he knew when he picked up the phone, everyone would ask the same thing of him: where have you been, Ciel? Why aren't you talking to us? Why do you sound so tired? Are you okay?

He didn't bother telling anyone this information until he was watching the news one dreary Saturday morning and somehow managed to process this tidbit from the broadcast:

 _Girl, 17, hurls child out of window in a daycare in Moscow; child dead three kilometers away._

Ciel remembered sitting up in his seat, leaning forward, and trying to concentrate on what the reporter was saying.

 _Done in a fit of rage...girl gone missing...may be in London...possible superpowers speculated..._

"Superpowers," he said to himself, a crooked smile forming on his face. "What a load of rubbish."

* * *

The Tuesday after that, when he had his first class for the week at the college he attended, he finally told someone what was going on. That someone was Elizabeth (Lizzie, as she insisted on being called; he rarely did), who he ran into in the halls.

"Ciel!" she exclaimed, turning around. "Ciel, you look _dreadful._ "

"Tell me something I don't know," Ciel replied dryly. "Elizabeth, I need to talk to you in private."

The girl frowned. "About what?"

"I can't tell you here."

She looked apprehensive for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought, before nodding solemnly. "Okay," she said quietly. "Where?"

Ciel looked around, catching sight of a storage closet. The lights were off, the door just slightly ajar. He grabbed her arm and marched over there, ignoring the stares from some of the other students.

"They think we're shagging each other," Elizabeth muttered crossly.

"Are you?"

Ciel looked up, his grip loosening on her arm. Before him stood a blonde kid who was scarcely older than he was- Alois. They didn't talk much, just often enough to confirm that Ciel hated his guts.

Elizabeth visibly cringed. "Alois! It's..."

"Two weeks in and you're already cheating on me?" Alois said, crossing his arms.

"Piss off, Alois," Ciel snapped.

"Ciel!" Elizabeth hissed, yanking him backwards. "I need to talk to him in private, okay? I won't be long."

In the end, it was Elizabeth that dragged him into the closet.

The confession was short and brutal. Ciel managed to gain control of his thoughts for just long enough to state the situation: that, about a month ago, he'd been walking to the market when he developed some sort of telepathy, and it'd stuck ever since.

"So you've got a superpower? Like that girl on the news?"

"Not nearly as useful, but yes."

Elizabeth frowned. "Do you think they're gonna go after you if they find out?"

Ciel blinked. "Who?"

"The government. They're trying to find that girl. They think she's somewhere here in London, hiding, but they don't know for certain."

Something about that made him feel decidedly anxious. "But she killed someone."

"Still. I think it's possible." She sighed, looking up at him. "Do be careful, Ciel. Don't get yourself hurt."

* * *

 _"Grell, I can't believe you. You're- why are you-"_

"I couldn't leave her out there in the cold, Sebastian! So long as she doesn't go out, I'll be fine, I swear."

 _"You're going to get yourself killed. You know what- I don't even know why I'm surprised. This is far from the first time you did something dangerous."_

"But I'm still alive, aren't I? Besides, she's just a girl. She doesn't know what she's doing."

 _"Have fun with your Russian fugitive."_

Sebastian hung up, leaving Grell with nothing but dead air until he hung up, too. He looked over at the girl sleeping on the couch behind him. She looked practically harmless now. Most things did when they slept.

Grell's decision to shelter her didn't come without its own ulterior motive; he wanted to know more about this girl, about her powers, and he knew that wouldn't happen if he let some government official get to her first. They'd probably kill her, swiftly and silently, or keep her to experiment on in hopes of finding a solution to the oncoming epidemic, and he couldn't bring himself to let that happen.

He just hoped to God that no one else found out about her.


End file.
